Sunisha is seventeen years old. She lives in Sri Lanka, in a community where Buddhist nationalism has made life increasingly difficult for Christians. Her neighbours have pressured her family to abandon their faith. There have been threats. There has been intimidation. And through all of it, Sunisha has held on.

Her response to the question of how she manages is simple and profound: "I will look to Him." It is not a complicated theological statement. It is not a carefully constructed argument. It is the testimony of someone who has found, in the middle of real pressure and real fear, that faith is not an abstract idea but a living reality.

Open Doors UK & Ireland works with persecuted Christians in more than 70 countries, and Sri Lanka is among the nations where pressure on Christians is increasing. Buddhist nationalist groups have targeted Christian communities, disrupting worship services, pressuring converts, and in some cases attacking church buildings. The government has not always been willing or able to protect its Christian citizens.

Sunisha's story is a reminder of what the Church in the West so easily forgets: that for millions of Christians around the world, faith is not comfortable. It costs something. And the fact that they continue to hold on — to look to Him — is both a challenge and an inspiration to those of us for whom following Jesus is, comparatively, very easy.